1. Field of the Invention
The field to which this invention pertains is snowboard bindings with rear-mounted locking levers.
2. Description of Related Art
Snowboards are well-known in the related art and in the sporting world, various types of bindings have been developed to allow the user to engage their boots to the snowboard.
Conventional snowboard binding systems used with soft snowboard boots are generally categorized as either strap bindings that typically include a rigid highback piece against which the heel of the boot is placed and one or more straps that secure the boot to the binding or step-in bindings that typically utilize one or more strapless engagement members into which the rider can step to lock the boot into the binding. Strap bindings are the original and most popular type of snowboard bindings and are adjustable, secure, and comfortable. Step-in bindings allow the user to more easily engage and disengage from the snowboard.
Both strap bindings and step-in bindings usually include a pivotable highback ankle support that extends upwardly from the snowboard. The back ankle portion of the rider's boot abuts against a curved forward surface of the highback, essentially providing leverage by which the rider can control the snowboard's heel edge. Appreciated is that a rider must typically engage and disengage the binding many times over the course of a day of snowboarding, generally, while the rider is on the slopes and, typically, with gloved hands. Unlike skiing, snowboarding requires the user to engage or disengage the rear-boot every time the rider gets on or off a lift. Thus, a rider consumes more of their time on the slopes engaging and disengaging his/her bindings. The binding is typically engaged and disengaged by using a lever disposed on the back of the highback. This lever can be difficult for the rider to grab, because its position in the unlocked position is very low in relation to the ground near the surface of the snowboard and behind the rider. Therefore, physically reaching to the end of the locking lever to engage the binding is difficult for the rider.
Because the rider must typically balance on his/her heels or toes to maintain stability on an sloping ski hill, maintaining balance while crouching low and reaching backwards to close the locking lever of a binding is exceptionally difficult. As such, many riders must sit down on a ski hill to close the locking lever of a binding. Related art, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,246,811 to Martin, involve attached cords or straps to the locking lever in order to make closure of the rear-mounted lever easier. However, the related art fails to bring such cord or strap to the location where the user grasps the cord or strap to a position either forward, above, or forward and above the highback so that the snowboarder can easily reach such cord or strap while in a standing or crouched position. Thus, the rider is more likely to be forced to sit down on the slope.